Key Leinster games for St Loman’s and Kilbeggan Shamrocks

Westmeath senior football champions St Loman’s Mullingar are facing a big step up in class when they take on Naas in the Leinster club senior football championship semi-final at TEG Cusack Park next Sunday at 1.30pm.

Paddy Dowdall’s men eased past Longford’s Killoe Young Emmets last Sunday week, but the facile nature of that victory won’t have taught them a great deal.

Dowdall is well aware of the challenge now facing his troops, but with oodles of experience in the team, they won’t be fazed by the Kildare champions, who have win a hat-trick of senior titles.

“Moorefield and Sarsfields were the powerhouses in Kildare, but Naas have come good in recent years and you can see that in the senior titles they have won. We will prepare well for it; we won’t fear them and we’re looking forward to a good battle,” said Dowdall.

Like Naas in Kildare, St Loman’s have dominated in Westmeath and John Heslin, Ronan O’Toole and Shane Dempsey are just three of an experienced side.

Kilbeggan Shamrocks are in action in the Leinster JFC semi-final. Niall O’Brien’s troops face Kildare’s Milltown in Rochfortbridge on Saturday (1.30pm), will hope to carry fine form of the last day when they proved much too strong for Longford's Ballymore.

Interestingly, it will be the second Leinster fixture in a row in which Kilbeggan will come up against a team which shares the same name of a Westmeath club. Kilbeggan defeated Ballymore of Longford in the quarter-final and now face Milltown of Kildare.